About the topicThe sharing of waters of the Cauvery River has been the source of a serious conflict between the two Indian states of Tamil Nadu and Karnataka. .

The problem is at its quarrelsome height today, but its genesis lies in two agreements in 1892 and 1924 between the erstwhile Madras Presidency and the Princely State of Mysore.

After decades of ineffective negotiations between the parties,a tribunal was constituted in 1990 to look into the matter. It delivered its final verdict after sixteen years, in 2007, by which time Kerala and Puducherry had also entered the fray. All four states decided to file review petitions seeking clarifications and possible renegotiation of the order.

Today the situation is increasingly more fraught, with civil disturbances, looting, arson, and even suicides on the rise. So what will Tomorrow hold?

Experts discuss this issue in detail.

About:Prof. S L RaoProf S L Rao is a professional manager, who worked in multinational companies, taught management, was Director General NCAER, first Chairman of CERC, founder Trustee of BIC, is Emeritus Distinguished Fellow at TERI, on boards of companies, and organizations in management education, heritage, and social service. He is a newspaper columnist, and has authored or edited 15 books on the economy, governance, management education, energy and negotiations.

Dr. A RavindraDr Ravindra joined the Indian Administrative Service in 1965 and served in various capacities in government. He holds a PhD degree in Development Studies and has specialized in the urban sector.

Dr. Ravindra was responsible for introducing several governance reforms such as rationalizing property tax system through the Self Assessment Scheme which became quite popular in Bangalore. He was instrumental in initiating the Cauvery Water Supply Scheme, Stage IV and the Bangalore Metro Rail Project. He retired as the Chief Secretary of the Government of Karnataka.

After retirement, Dr. Ravindra has served as Deputy Chairman, Karnataka State Planning Board, Sr. Visiting Fellow at IIM, Bangalore and Advisor to Chief Minister of Karnataka. Currently, he heads the Centre for Sustainable Development, a non-profit organization, working on sustainability issues.

His monograph on Cauvery water Dispute – ‘A Bend in the Cauvery’ was just released.

Dr. V S PrakashDr. V.S. Prakash was the Director, Karnataka State Natural Disasters Monitoring Centre, an autonomous body affiliated to the Department of Science & Technology, Government of Karnataka, India. He has a post-graduate degree in earth sciences from Central College, Bangalore; Post-graduate in Exploration geophysics from Osmania University, Hyderabad and Post graduate in Water Resources with specialization in Remote Sensing and GIS from International Institute for Aerospace and Earth Sciences, the Netherlands. He has served in various capacities in Government of India and Government of Karnataka since 1973. He started his career as a field assistant on daily wages in Department of Mines and Geology in 1973; served as a Lecturer in K.G.F. First Grade College during 1973- 74; as a Geologist in Department of Mines and Geology, Govt., of Karnataka during 1974 to 1979; Joined Central Services and served as Scientist, Central Groundwater Board, Ministry of Water Resources, GoI during 1979 to 1996; as a senior faculty in Rajiv Gandhi National Institute for Groundwater Research and Training during 1996 to 1999; as Director, Drought Monitoring Cell, Govt of Karnataka during 1999 to 2007; presently serving as Director, Karnataka State Natural Disaster Monitoring Centre, Govt of Karnataka.

Dr. M K RameshDr. Ramesh is presently working as a Professor of Law at National Law School of India University at Bangalore. He is also the Chair Professor of Urban Poor and the Law, instituted by the Ministry of housing and Urban Poverty Alleviation, GOI and Coordinator of the Commons Cell. During the periods 2004-2005(Oct) and 2006(May)-2009(June), he held the position of Chairman of the Post Graduate and Doctoral Council in the Law School.

His areas of specialisation include International Law, Human Rights Law, Environmental Law and Natural Resources Management Law (Land and Water).

He is an Adjunct Professor in Indian Institute of Technology, Kharagpur, teaching a course on “ Water Law and Governance : National and International Perspectives”. He has published a few books and over 50 research articles concerning a wide range of legal issues that encompass Environment, Natural Resources, Water Resource Management, Human Rights, Consumer Interest, Health Care, Public Interest Lawyering, Legal Education, International and Comparative Law etc.

He is the Founder Editor of the Indian Journal of Environmental Law (IJEL) and the Centre for Environmental Law Education Research and Advocacy(CEERA), in 1997, in the Law School.

Dr. Veena SrinivasanDr. Veena Srinivasan is presently working as a Fellow, Centre for Environment and Development, ATREE. Her research interests are inter-sectoral water allocation, threats to freshwater from local to regional to global scales, impacts of multiple stressors including demographics, climate change and urbanization on water resources, sustainable water management policy and practice in socio-hydrologic systems. She leads several interdisciplinary research projects that combine field hydrology, low-cost sensing, citizen science, and simulation modeling to understand and find solutions to critical water problems.

She received her PhD from Stanford University’s Emmet Interdisciplinary Program in Environment and Resources.